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City Preps For Clean-Up Days

ST. MARYS — Residents in the city of St. Marys will have an opportunity to discard unwanted items during the next two Saturdays as part of the annual spring clean-up.

Curbside pickup only for those residents who live south of Spring Street and all residents who live east of the St. Marys River will take place starting at 7 a.m. Saturday. Those residents who live north of Spring Street and west of the river will have their items picked up on May 19.

Residents are limited to a maximum of 60 cubic feet of discarded items, which is the amount that fills one load of a packer truck. Solidwaste Superintendent Doug Metz said a few tweaks have been made to the annual event this year.

“We’ve dropped it to one large item — which is one large furniture items like a chair, recliner, couch or entertainment center,” Metz said, noting rising refuse costs prompted the change.

“We also will not be picking up any mattresses or boxsprings. Those are available through special pick-ups on their normal trash day.”

Carpeting and padding also will no longer be picked up.

“That also can be put out on a special pick up throughout the year,” Metz said.

“A lot of times we had people who would put it on in a big ball and didn’t cut it up. And nine times out of 10, they would put it out too early and it would rain and get too big and bulky. It also takes up a lot of volume and space.”

All items must be placed curbside by 7 a.m. the day of pick up and cannot be placed out more than 72 hours before the designated day. There will be no call backs for items that were placed out late or on the wrong date.

“We’ve had some people already who have had items out for two weeks,” Metz said.

“It just makes the town look trashy.”

Items that will not be picked up include: Appliances, auto parts, batteries, metal fencing, brick or stone, concrete, fuel tanks, swing sets, metal, tires, railroad ties, water heaters, transmissions, motor blocks, yard waste and tree limbs, sinks and building materials that are not boxed, bagged or bundled. Hazardous materials like antifreeze, freon, herbicides, motor oil, paint and pesticides also will not be picked up. For more information, call the city office at 419-394-3303.